Ad from Fjord Cadenza’s Facebook page.
Picture by Nina Djærff.

The Norwegian festival Fjord Cadenza (28 August – 1 September) has announced Magne Furuholmen will be this year’s festival artist.

Fjord Cadenza is a culture festival mainly focused on classical music and a selection of contemporary music and art. It is held in the village of Skodje, a 30-minute drive from the city of Ålesund on the west coast.

In addition to presenting an art exhibition (28 Aug – 1 Sep) of woodcuts and ceramic works, Magne will headline a festive concert at the local culture house Gomerhuset on 31 August, where he’ll perform new songs from his upcoming solo project “Magnefied” and a selection of a-ha songs – joined by guest vocalists Martin Halla and Tini Flaat.

In addition to Magne, Anneli Drecker will do a set of her own songs and The Norwegian Naval Forces Band will perform a selection of classical music, conducted by Rune Bergmann.

Tickets for the event are available now at fjordcadenza.no. The venue has a capacity of only 350 people and tickets are selling fast.

Live in Barcelona 2022
(Photo by Carlos Maciá)

Magne has revealed on Instagram that he’s planning to release his new solo album in August this year. Alongside some new photos with babygoats on the farm he co-owns on the island of Stormolla in Lofoten, Norway, he writes:

“with your help i am planning some sort of release of my new album 31st of august in norway. should really have happened last year, but hey – longcovid was no joke!”

In early 2023 Magne was working on the album in his home studio with producer Bjarne Stensli, who also produced 2019’s White Xmas Lies. Later he and Stensli were joined by Karl Oluf Wennerberg and Even Ormestad for a recording session at Magne’s holiday home in Vence, Southern France, in June 2023. This is also where he recorded A Dot Of Black In The Blue Of Your Bliss back in 2007.

It will be interesting to see if Magne is planning to perform live in connection with the album release, like he did with White Xmas Lies.

What we do know is that on 12 September there will be a Q&A session with Magne at Aker Tech House, the recently opened office building located right next to his “Imprints” sculpture park at Fornebu. The event will be hosted by legendary Norwegian footballer Jan Åge Fjørtoft, who now works for Aker Property Group. It’s not clear if it’s open to the public, but more info is to follow.

Magne has been keeping a low profile so far this year, apart from a few appearances. On 10 February he attended the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) event at Telenor Arena near Oslo, where he could be seen in the TV broadcast during the match between Casper Ruud and Nicolai Kjær.

While on 11 April he visited Høyenhall School at Manglerud, where four of his artworks were added to the school’s art collection. Both Magne and Paul went to primary school at Høyenhall in the late 60s/early 70s, and there is now a conference room called “Furuholmen” and another conference room called “Waaktaar”, named after its two most famous students.

One who’s been keeping an even lower profile recently is Morten Harket, who made his last public appearence in October 2022. But he’s been seen out and about occasionally, most recently at IKEA in Oslo last weekend, 4 May. Regina Crosby Haug, an American filmmaker living in Norway who’s also the founder of the OneWhale organization, ran into Morten there and posted a picture with him on her Instagram.

Happy Birthday to Magne Furuholmen, who turns 60 on November 1st!

Happy Birthday!

In a recent interview with 80s80s Radio in Germany, Magne said that he’s been working on a personal project to mark the occasion:

“On the actual day I’m just gonna have a dinner with my wife and kids, and I’m not gonna do a big celebration actually.

So for me the idea of having a big celebration – nah, I’m kind of done with that. I did that when I was 50, and I think that was enough.”

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Magne continues to post new solo recordings on Instagram. Half an album’s worth of songs so far, with the latest being “Between the Halo and the Horn” which was uploaded on 2 May.

“(…) i have decided to share with you some new songs (…) songs which may or may not find their way into the fray later. presently though, these are demos, unfinished, even with the odd emergency rhyme thrown in here and there – much like early drawings in a sketch-book, but written, produced, and performed by yours truly”, Magne wrote when he posted the first one.

Here is an overview of all the songs so far:

21/12/20: I’m In
26/12/20: God is in the Details
21/01/21: Time is on Your Side
24/02/21: Bluest of Blue
04/04/21: You Have What it Takes
02/05/21: Between the Halo and the Horn